On March 1 2007, students at schools around the world marked the advent of International Polar year by conducting an ice experiment. They then told the IPY community and the world by pinning a virtual balloon onto a web-based map showing exactly where they were. Read this Blog to find out how the activity went.

One of the main themes of the International Polar Year is the study of Earth’s changing ice and snow, and its impact on our planet and our lives. On 1 March 2007, students and teachers around the world were invited to help launch the IPY in your classrooms. This Breaking The Ice flyer (PDF), currently available in English, Deutsch, Italiano, Espanol, Francais, Inuktitut, and ??? (Japanese), describes a few simple activities that can be carried out around the world in classrooms, science centres, parks, galleries, even at home!

You can still get involved now!
Or, join our Educators Discussion Forum.

To become part of this exciting international scientific effort:
1. Do some ice investigations like the ones suggested below.
2. Launch a virtual balloon representing your school on the map.
3. Check back frequently to see balloons go up around the world.
4. Continue to take part in IPY by learning about polar science in your classroom. More resources will be added to the educators’ page throughout IPY.

Here are a few suggestions of ice activities that you can do in your classroom, science centre, museum, zoo, gallery.. or even at home. Or make up your own! Feel free to leave comments at the end of each activity page too to let us know what you think of them.

First, you might want some background on Water and Ice: Why Study Them?.

Ice Activities:
Breaking The Ice; easy-to-do activities for home or classroom

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!; explore the properties of water and ice by making your own ice cream!

Experiments with Snow and Ice; simple experiments investigating the properties of snow, ice, and water, melting and freezing.

Ice in the Solar System; in-depth inquiry-based activities based on the physical properties of ice and water.

Compare your School with an Arctic School; a fun inquiry project comparing the students school/town with those in the arctic.

Launch a Virtual Balloon
Join other students around the world by adding your own balloon marker on the map:

Instructions for Launching a Virtual Balloon

Below is a map showing balloons that have been launched around the world:

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IPY 2007-2008: IPY Launch activities by students

If you would like to suggest a new ice activity, or be added to a list of educators interested in the International Polar Year, please email {encode=" This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " title="Rhian Salmon"}.

Here are a few icy terms you might find helpful as well:

Sea ice - Ice formed from the freezing of ocean water (see also this Sea Ice fact sheet)
Iceberg - Freshwater ice that has broken off into the ocean from a glacier, ice sheet, or ice shelf.
Glacier - A body of land-based ice formed from compacted, recrystalized snow that flows slowly due to gravity.
Ice sheet - Large body of land-based ice found only in Greenland and Antarctica. (Also called continental glacier)
Ice shelf - Thick piece of ice that extends out into the ocean from a glacier or ice sheet.
And a little bit about real polar weather balloon launches, written by Leonie Jordan (ACE CRC) from Australia:



Weather stations world-wide release weather balloons. All weather balloons measure wind-speed and wind-direction. In addition, most balloons carry instruments designed to measure pressure, temperature and humidity.
At Casey Station in Antarctica, weather balloons have been released since 1969. They are released every day at 7am and 7pm, sometimes in winds greater than 100km an hour. All balloons released from Casey carry a unit called a radio-sonde. This radio-sonde collects the data and sends it via radio-transmitter to a receiver on the roof of the weather office. The raw data is then plotted on a graph. This graphical display of data allows us to identify such things as moist air masses and interpret how they will move over time (for example, where it is likely to rain).
The weather balloons at Casey are made of natural latex and filled with hydrogen gas. Hydrogen is a flammable explosive gas, so meteorologists wear big flash coats that are made from flame retardant cotton that reach from the tops of their heads to the floor. They wear boots designed to stop static electricity from the dry air building up (a static spark can ignite hydrogen), cotton gloves and even ski goggles to protect their eyes.
The weather balloons are quite large to start with and have a tremendous amount of elasticity. As the balloons ascend through the atmosphere, the air pressure around them diminishes and they expand. They can get up to 20 meters across! Weather balloons come in a variety of sizes that determine how high in the atmosphere they will go. Balloons at Casey Station can get up to 35km above the surface before they burst. Some stations have larger balloons that can go considerably higher than 35km. These are used to study the upper atmosphere and measure ozone levels.

Photos courtesy of Students on Ice (top) and Leonie Jordan (weather balloon)